This invention relates to air-flow boosting devices, particularly those designed to increase air-flow from household and commercial registers over heating and air-conditioning ducts.
In the past, obtaining an even distribution of air from heating and air-conditioning unit (for convenience, hereinafter referred to as "HACU") in the ordinary household or in commercial buildings has been very difficult, if not nearly impossible, due to inadequate HACU or defective ducting.
This uneven distribution is especially noticeable the greater the distance of the duct from the HACU, which results in less air-flow from the duct registers. Thus, the air-flow coming from those distant registers must be increased.
Prior attempts to solve this problem have been unsuccessful because the devices in the prior art do not provide enough boost in air flow to accomplish the necessary equalization of temperatures within a building.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,201, dated Jan. 30, 1963 by Gottlieb, discloses a device which replaces a register entirely and fits into the air-duct itself. The Gottlieb device apparently disregards the fact that registers are not universally sized and, therefore, the device does not fit all registers. Related to this is that in order to install this device in the register, extra installation is required. A further major problem with the Gottlieb device is that since the air-flow area remains the size of the register it is replacing, the device does not provide a sufficient volume of cooled or heated air at the register for the fan to pull and push air into the room.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,972,941, Feb. 20, 1961 by Bennett, is very similar to the Gottlieb patent in that it fits inside the register, (rather than externally as the instant invention), and thus, has the same inherent problems as the Gottlieb patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,934, June 9, 1936, by Spear, is not designed for registers, but fits within large heating ducts. Except for the fans, there is no resemblance whatever to the instant invention.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 1,886,841, Nov. 8, 1932, by Seales, like the Spear patent, is designed to fit inside the furnace pipes and not over the air-registers. It further appears to be complex to install and use.
A fifth patent, U.S. Pat. No. 1,875,683, Sept. 6, 1932, by Waterbury, is designed to fit internally in the register. The related patent by Waterbury, U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,994, dated Jan. 14, 1930, is also designed to fit internally, inside the register. Unfortunately, due to inadequacies in design, both of the Waterbury patents still encounter the major problem of the others, that is, each fails to produce sufficient cooled or heated air in large air-flow areas to provide even distribution of temperatures, such as in a building.
Thus, all the devices in the prior art, are defective in that they fail to increase the air-flow out of the registers adequately to accomplish the purpose of the instant invention.
The numerous above mentioned problems with the devices in the prior art, are solved by the instant invention. The instant invention consists of a device which is completely self-contained and fits externally over the ordinary register and is, therefore, easy to install. Moreover, the instant device increases or boosts air-flow substantially by providing an induction driven fan which blows air through a circular portion smaller than the register's size. The design in the instant device enables it not only to boost the air for better circulation into a room, but also to draw air through the air ducts coming from the HACU. Moreover, as it draws air through the air ducts, the air-flow to rooms to which conjoining ducts lead also improves. This overall improvement in air-flow results in a more rapid adjustment of room temperatures to the desired temperature, thereby lessening operating time of the HACU. In summary, the benefits provided by this invention create quite a substantial savings in energy costs.